The first thing he did after entering Ardalon was take a deep breath. The fresh, cool air was pleasant and soothing. He had a feeling this world wasn't technologically advanced. "Is there any technology in this world like my world?" he asked Yanai.
"Uh, not that I know of. As far as I know, this world is currently similar to Earth's age of exploration era."
"That makes sense." There were many questions on his mind, and Yanai didn't seem to mind answering them. "Zeira said something about levels. Do I have to begin at level one?"
"You're at level 5 right now. I think it's best for someone who's not born here to start at this level. Most people reach level 5 before they turn 15. It's not that fighting is the only way of leveling up; any work that takes effort and pushes our body to exhaustion gives us XP. So those who aren't interested in fighting or haven't even picked up a weapon can be a higher level too, but not as high as the ones who fight."
Yanai started walking as she spoke. Ethan followed her, curious to know as much about Ardalon as he could.
"Oh, let me brief you about this world a little. There are different kinds of magic here. I guess you will learn and understand them as you explore this world. People can control elements here, but for that, they require elemental stones like firestones and waterstones. And that brings us to your third and last gift. Zeira has granted you the ability to control and summon lightning at your will. Unlike other denizens of this world, you won't need a thunderstone to generate or channel the lightning. But it will require mana to use, and that we can't do anything about. Always try to keep your mana reserves full to use this ability."
"And how can I refill them?" he asked.
"The most obvious ways are eating and sleeping; you'll naturally get energized. Then there's meditation, through which you can absorb mana from your surroundings. But beware, you shouldn't absorb mana from just anything you see, because some mana can be impure and mortally harm you. The safest mana you can absorb is from nature."
"Got it," he nodded. "And where are we? I saw that Ardalon has many continents. What's the name of this one?"
"This continent is called Tovan. It's one of the biggest continents. I'm sure you can spend almost ten to twelve months here if you want to tour the whole area."
"I see." He noticed that ever since they had arrived here, Yanai was blushing a little more while looking at him. Then he realized it. He looked down at his hands and noticed they were different from his previous ones, and it felt like he had also grown a few inches taller. "I'm in my new body, right?" He grinned at her. "How do I look?"
Yanai licked her lower lip, struggling to maintain eye contact with him while also trying to do her job. "You're looking very handsome, Ethan."
"Really?"
"Mm-hm. While you were good-looking in your old life, your looks are more enhanced than before. You can easily rival the most handsome men in both Ardalon and Earth." She eyed him up and down.
"Does that mean that my..." he trailed off, both of them looking down at his crotch before both of them looked at each other and blushed a little. He immediately wanted to see how his dick looked, and even wanted to test it by having sex, but he pushed that thought away. That was going to happen anyway; right now he needed to understand Ardalon better and navigate from there.
Yanai cleared her throat and said, "You've also gotten new clothes as well, ones that won't make you stand out from others in this world. Easy to blend in when you dress like them."
Ethan had more questions, "And what about language? How will I be able to speak with people here?"
Yanai replied, "Along with True Vision, Zeira also gave you another ability called All Speech. You will be able to understand every language that humanoid or intelligent beings speak here. That reminds me, why don't you try your abilities?"
"Yeah, sure," Ethan was very excited about trying it all. "What should I do first?"
"Let's see. You can try using your lightning power to hit something," Yanai looked around and noticed a pear tree nearby. "Come here." Ethan followed her until they stood close to it. "Why don't you try cutting those pears from the branch?"
"That seems easy," Ethan said, "How do I do it?"
"Just bring your hand forward, feel your mana crackling through your body like lightning, gather it in your palm, and then release it in the direction you want."
"On it." Ethan closed his eyes. He could feel his mana thrumming in his core, flowing through his veins as he stretched his hand toward the pear. He felt the mana gathering in his palm before he heard crackling sounds and sensed the heat in his hand. A ball of thunder started forming in his palm. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He'd seen things like this in movies and TV shows, but now he was doing it for real, holding lightning in his hand.
He focused his attention on the stalk connecting the fruit to the branch and shot the lightning forward. It happened so fast. The intensity and amount of lightning from Ethan's shot were too much, causing the pear to explode upon impact.
"That's very dangerous. I gotta be careful with this power," Ethan said.
Yanai explained, "Your mistake was using too much lightning at once, which is why it didn't hit where you wanted. Try narrowing it to a small amount. Your hand is the weapon that channels the lightning; use it wisely to affect the target area."
"That sounds like a good idea." He did just that, channeling the lightning in his hand but instead of charging his whole palm, he let it gather in his index finger. An idea struck him, and he made a finger gun, targeting the stalk of another pear. He mimicked shooting bullets with his finger gun, and the lightning flew from his finger and struck the stalk. Since the amount of lightning was limited this time, the stalk easily burned after impact and the pear fell, but Yanai swiftly caught it in her hand.
"That was really creative, Ethan!" she said, raising her palm for a high five. Ethan lightly slapped his hand against hers. "You're a smart man."
"Thanks." He said, cutting another fruit from the branches. They both sat down under the shade of the tree and ate the pear.
The forest was peaceful during the day. He could hear the leaves rustling, birds chirping, and the whispers of the soothing wind flowing through the area. It seemed like a very nice place to make love with a nice woman. He felt his cock twitch at the thought.
When she finished eating, Yanai got up. "I think it's time for me to leave, Ethan."
Ethan stood up. "It was great to meet you. Although the reason we met was bad, I think I'll enjoy this new life more than the previous one. I forgive you, Yanai."
Yanai smiled widely for the first time. She looked so beautiful when she smiled. "Thank you, Ethan." She looked at him, as if she had something to say but wasn't sure if she should.
Ethan couldn't stop himself from stating the obvious. He walked close to her and said, "I think you're really beautiful, Yanai. My death was unforeseen, but at least I died by mistake of a gorgeous woman."
